We’re back at our starting point, Puerto Moreno, because the boat needs to get restocked and readied for our second week of cruising, this time through the Southern Islands of the Galapagos. If we had been a typical one-week cruise, we’d have disembarked after breakfast this morning and driven to the airport to return to the mainland. Instead, we’re having a low key day as we get for another spin around the islands.
The blog entry will be a little short today because I’m remaining on the boat and doing some other much-needed writing. I don’t want to get home and have two-weeks of no writing for books and the main sites behind me. I also spent part of the morning washing clothes, cleaning gear, and rearranging my cabin to get rid of the week’s worth of clutter I had accumulated. No photography for me today.
A small group of the workshop participants went out to a beach about an hour’s drive from town to spend the morning.
Even fences won’t keep a sea lion off your boat (and getting them back off becomes harder, too).
After lunch, most of the group went for either a snorkel or a panga ride looking for shorebirds. We did do a short image review session with everyone after lunch, but that’s the extent of my workshop work today.
So, a slow Sunday. There will be more to report tomorrow, as we head up the coast to two locations that should be rewarding. And then later in the week we hit two of my favorite places in the islands.
One thing before closing the document and moving on to other work: one week in the Galapagos is too brief, in my opinion. It’ll feel a little whirlwind, and you often don’t get second chances at a lot of the animals due to the way they’re distributed on the islands and your fixed itinerary. On the other hand, two weeks is a bit much to be deeply intense into the photography side. So if you come to the islands for a two-week trip, find a day in the middle where you can just relax and unwind. It’ll usually come right at the 7 day mark with the boat in port, so you can even make it a “stroll around town” day if you want. Put the camera away as I did today and give the photographic mind a bit of subconscious time to think. That way when you start hitting those more exotic animals a second time in the second week, your brain will be ready to help you improve your shots.
Now watch what’s going to happen: the shots from the second week will all go downhill on me ;~). I hope not. But time will tell. Still, that’s my advice: relax in the middle of a two-week Galapagos trip.
